My French Door Table

When I started this craft room process, I wanted a table coming out into the center of the room. A lot like a kitchen island.  I wanted to be able to use my sewing machine and have room to pull fabric through, kid's school projects that seem to always use poster board, and just have a space where more than one person could be sitting comfortably doing a project together. We looked into doing cabinets that resembled a kitchen island, or buying a table to go in the center. Both were pretty expensive, and kind of generic to me.  We came up with the idea to use a French door as the top and have my hubby make the legs.

First we bought a wooden french door from our local hardware store.  It was unfinished, and it also came without the knob hole cut out.  Very important to me... I didn't want a hole in the middle of my table.  I decided to paint the door a charcoal gray.  I used left over satin wall paint I had from another project.  Painted two coats on it, then distressed it to look old.

The design of these legs were inspired by a picture I saw in a magazine of someone's dining room table.  I showed my hubby the picture and away he went.  It was fairly simple.  We went to Home Depot and got some wood and assembled two unique table legs using just this wood and some nails. After he got them built, I went to work painting them.  I wanted them to look rustic and distressed, so I literally white washed them using a dry brushing technique. They were dry almost instantly, and took about a half hour to do both.  The fun part of dry brushing, is not a lot of paint goes on at first so there is a lot of room to mess around with the finish to get your desired look.

Here is what it looks like put together.  I haven't painted the legs in this picture, but after the legs were painted, we screwed on the top to the legs, got a piece of glass cut to cover the top of the window for the table top, and I had a one of a kind craft table.

I love working on my table. The kids also love the table, and having it come out into the room is just perfect for us. Best of all the table is one of a kind, I had fun creating it, and we saved a lot of money just making it ourselves. Pin It

Painting cabinets

My room is taking shape and I am excited to get cabinets put in. We painted a valspar paint on the walls called butter. Yellow is hard to pick, and this is the perfect shade of yellow for me.  Not to bright, but still very happy.  I always paint my walls with an eggshell finish, and my trim with a satin finish. We decided to go with the unfinished stock cabinets for this room. I thought to myself, I will just paint them quickly and get them installed...no problem.  They are trickier than they look. I have painted so many finished cabinets in my day, and these are a little different.  First off, we had to sand the heck out of these babies.  Sand, sand, sand.  When they are smooth use a good primer. Paint one coat, then sand again. Paint another coat, sand, and then start painting your color.  I decided to go white with these cabinets. I know that there is special cabinet paint on the market, but I just went with a satin white wall paint that matched my trim color.  I wanted it to blend in with the trim, and look more like built ins. When I paint my cabinets, I always use a foam roller. It gives them a smooth spray like finish. I cut in with my brush, then roller with the roller. It may take a few more coats, but the lighter it goes on, the less drips you will have.

Here they are white, uninstalled. We added crown molding to the top of the uppers for a more high end look. I love how they turned out, for a fraction of the cost of custom cabinetry. Can't wait to show what is going to happen with that french door. Pin It

DIY wall texturing

We tore down the basement wall, and it left a big mess we had to fix.  We have had people come and texture our walls in the past, but we haven't been satisfied with their work.  My husband and I decided to do it ourselves this time.  Jeff has always done the walls on his own.  Fairly simple.  He put up new drywall, mud, and used the orange peel texture spray found at Home Depot.  The ceiling was another matter entirely.

We had a funky texture on the ceiling that couldn't be matched with the texture rollers, so we got some mud, and paint scraper, and went to work.  It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I put the mud in random patterns, let it dry then sanded it smooth.  Now that it is primed and painted, you can't even tell there was a wall there or a hole in the ceiling.  It looks super great, and blended right in. Pin It

A little bit of demo

There has been a little bit of demo going on around here. I  didn't like the floor plan in our basement. It felt like it was just a maze of rooms. We did not need one of the rooms by the stairs, so we decided to tear out the wall and make it one open space.  We didn't need a family room right there, we have a theater room in the basement already, so we decided that a great craft space would be awesome for our family.  Here is the floor plan and what it looked like before we took out the wall.

It was a small room and the hallway felt even smaller. So we took our hammers and ripped the wall apart. Of course being careful of all the wires and turning of the electricity first.

It was a family affair.

We took out all the wood and framing. There is just one supporting piece that has to stay. I think a column at the bottom of the stairs will solve that problem. It looks so much more spacious now. A great blank canvas for a fun craft room for the family. It opened the basement right up, and it became a relatively easy fix to our basement floor plan dilemma. Pin It

Nothing says welcome like color

I love colorful front doors. My friend and I are on a movement to start a colorful front door trend in our neighborhood. I think that nothing says welcome like the color of your front door.  I had recently visited Paris and was inspired by the doors that looked like this.

I loved how all their buildings were mostly cream, and they used the color of their door to express their personality. Beautiful.
I came home and decided to paint my front door a bright turquoise. It is important when choosing a paint color for your door, to make sure it compliments the brick or siding color of you house. The brick on my home is a red color, and my siding is cream.  I got some paint swatches and decided that this color would go great. This is a picture of how the door started white.

Here is the turquoise door. I think a color just brings a house to life.  Just a few weeks ago I decided to go with a different paint color for my door.  I wanted a change for my porch, and I thought an apple green would do the trick.

I decided to keep the side lights white this time and let the door just speak for itself.  I still have kept my turquoise by spraying my clock and pot, and I added some red accents to match the brick. I love the colorful accents, it looks summery and fun.
  Some painting tips I use: Most of the time I use left over paint I have around my house. The turquoise was from my son's room, the green is from a bathroom.  I don't always use an exterior paint because my door is protected and I paint so often.  If your door is not protected, use an exterior paint. I use a satin finish. You don't see the brush marks as easily, and I like how smooth it turns out. Basically it is personal preference. I like to paint early in the morning before the sun is shining directly on the door. A foam roller works great to roll and get that sprayed look. Make sure to prep. Sand any areas that are rough, wash the door, and tape around any areas ( I love frog tape).  Always remove the hardware.  Nothing is worse that paint on hardware.  Don't be afraid to paint the front door. Go bold and have fun. After all, it is just paint.

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Taking it outside

It has been a while since I have posted. It is not because I haven't been busily working away in my home, but because I have been busily working away outside my home.  I have been working as an aid at a school this past school year.  I can't believe how much time I don't have to do things like blog when I am working.  I have missed blogging. I use this blog as a journal of sorts, and I enjoy recording my decorating experiences, and looking back on them.
That being said, I am excited for the Summer! Time! We have been working hard in our yard these past couple of months.  Last year I cut out and put curbing in my whole yard. We didn't finish planting everything last year. That has been what we have been doing all spring. Here is what the yard looked like before. Keep in mind, when we moved in, the whole backyard was just dandelions. My husband and I purchased this house when there was still snow on the ground, and moved in when there was a bunch of weed. Needless to say we freaked out just a little.

We pulled out all the bushes in the front, worked hard on reviving the lawn in the back, and added new flower beds.

I love planting perennials. I love that they are low maintenance and come back every year. I have had great luck planting the perennials in my flower gardens, and keeping my annuals in my pots. I also like using mulch around the plants. It keeps the weeds down, and I hardly ever have to go out there and weed.  I enjoy watching the flowers grow, and the yard grow and evolve. I love adding and moving and taking away each year.  Yard work defiantly makes me happy! Pin It